Skiving-machine



' F. DAVENPORT.

SKIVING MACHINE.

. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, I919- 1,329,294=. Patented Jan. 27,1920,

I MIMI 10 I Inaazir afimw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

EUGENE F. DAVENPORT, OF MELROSE, MASSACI-IUSE"ITS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED-SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SKIVING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 27, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, EUGENE F. DAVEN- ron'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Melrose, in the county of Middlesexand State of .Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skiving Machines; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact. description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

T he present invention relates to improvements in machines for skiv ing leather and analogous material and more particularly to improved mechanism embodied in this class of machines forvfacilitating the feeding of the work to the skivingknife.

The. object of the invention is to provide a construction which shall effectually safe guard the operator inguiding the work to theskiving knife and which shall in addition facilitate and insure the proper feeding of the work to the knife. With this object in view one feature of the invention contemplates thelprovision of a yielding member positioned in advance of the usual presser foot and adapted to initiate the engagement of the work by the feed roll and prevent the fingers of the operator from being-drawn into the space between the feed. roll and presser foot.

A further feature of the invention consists in the combination with the usual presser foot and feed roll of a spring mounted in front of the presser foot and adapted to exert a substantially uniform pressure upon work of varying thickness.

Still further features of the invention consist in certain novel features of con struction, combinations andarrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed. the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of the new and improved mechanism as embodied in askiving machine; and Fig. 2 is a section upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the method of supporting the auxiliary spring upon the presser footpand its position with relation. to L the feed .roll.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is conveniently shown in connection secured in a head 15 by means ofa'bolt 16 received in the head and passing througha slot 17 formed inthe presser foot,aknurled nut 18 threadedly connected with the rear end of the bolt serving to secure the presser foot in adjusted position in the head. The feed roll in'this type of machine ,is yieldingly supported and acts toboth feed the work and retain it in position against the. presser foot, which in turn acts as a gage to properly locate the work with respect to the cutting edge of the knife. The most satisfactory roll for many classes of work is that disclosed in the patent to Davenport, No. 1,029,176, dated June 11, 1912. This roll is provided with a series 'of feedingteeth 20 disposed about the periphery and adapted to positively bite into thework and feed it against the edge of the knife. Although this roll gives extreme satisfaction fromthe standpoint of feeding the work, it is somewhat dangerous on occasions forif the finger of the operator is accidentally thrust in too far between the presser foot and roll serious damage may be done by the sharp feeding teeth of the roll. v

The present invention contemplates a simple and effective construction adapted for embodiment in existing machines, which not only facilitates the feeding of the work but which in additionefi'ectually prevents anyiniuryto the operator due to the feed roll. For this purpose a spring is mounted in advance of the presser foot and in such a position that it initiates the gripping ;of

P t Fl ll b Y PP F 1 up n the f om of the presser foot to form in effect an auxiliary foot which cooperates with the feed roll in advance of the usual presser foot. As shown in the drawings a plate 21 is provided with a series of uniformly spaced openings 22 in which are threaded a coiled spring 24, as shown in Fig. 1, having its lower portion conforming in outline to the working face of the presser foot. This spring is substantially coextensive in length with the feed roll and causes the work to be engaged by the feed roll throughout its entire length. As indicated in Fig. 1. the plate 21 is provided with vertical slots 25 adapted to receive screws 26 threaded in openings :27 formed in the presser foot to secure the plate in the desired position relative to the presser foot. It will be obvious that the embodiment ofthis construction in existing types of machines involves merely the provision of the threaded openings 27 in the presser foot.

Another and extreme y important advantage of the new construction is that it provides for operation upon pieces of leather which may vary in thickness throughout their width. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that this type of machine is adapted for both skivinp' and splitting pieces of leather, the machine as illustrated, being adjusted with the face of the presser foot substantially concentric with the cutting edge of the knife to sp it the leather. As some of the pieces of leather to be split have a substantial variance between the thick ness at different ends, this leather is engaged only at the thickest portion and the feeding action is necessarily irregular and the work in consequence must be closely watched and carefullynuided by the operator. This is a most prolific cause of mgury as 1t 1s necessary for the operator to press the work against the feed ro l at the thinner portion and incur the risk of catching the fingers between the feed roll and presser foot. The auxiliary presser member or spring automatically adjusts itself to these irregularities in the thickness of the work so that all portions of the work are maintained in engagement with the feed roll and a uniform feeding action results. Theparticular construction shown in the drawings is especially useful in this connection as, owing to the character of the spring, the, separate con volutions have an independent yielding); movement which results in a uniform feeding action even though the work may have a series of irregularities which would serithe claims, and may be changed or modified without departing from the broader features of the invention.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is: c i

1. A skiving machine comprising a tubular knife, a presser foot, a cooperating feed roll, and a yielding member positioned in advance of the presser foot and adapted to initiate the engagement of the work by the feed roll.

2. A skiving machine comprising a tubular knife, a presser foot, a cooperating feed roll, and a spring supported upon the front of the presser foot and adapted to engage the work in advance of the presser foot to initiate the engagement of the work by the feed roll.

3. A skiving machine comprising a tubular knife, a presser foot having a working face substantially concentric with the curvature of the knife, a feed roll cooperating with the presser foot, and a spring supported upon the front of the presser foot and having a bearing surface extending sub stantially in the direction of curvature of the working face of the presser foot.

4. A skiving machine comprising a tubular skivinc' knife, an unyielding presser foot, a feed roll having a curved periphery cooperating" with the presser foot, and an auxiliary yielding presser member supported in advance of the foot and having a bearing surface which conforms generally in curvature to the curvature of the feed roll.

5. A skiving machine comprising a skiving knife, a presser foot and feed roll cooperatinp; with the knife to split sheets of leather, and an auxiliary presser member having independently yielding portions adapted to engage the work in advance of the presser foot and cause a l portions of the work to be gripped by the feed roll.

6. A skiving machine comprising a skiving knife, a presser foot and feed roll cooperating to guide and feed the work to the knife, a plate adiustably secured to the front work and initiate the engagement of the i work by the feed roll. 7

7. A skiving machine comprising a skiving knife, a presser foot, a feed roll cooperating with the presser foot and having a series of feeding teeth disposed about the periphery to positively bite into the work, and a yielding guard supported upon the front of the presser foot in operative relation to the surface of the feed roll to initiate the feed of the work by the roll and substantially close the space between the presser foot and feed roll. I

8. A skiving machine comprising a, skiving knife, a stationary presser foot, a feeding member cooperating With the presser foot, a plate secured to'the front of the presser foot and having provision for vertical adjustment, and a coiled spring connected to the lower edge of the plate and adapted to present a bearing surface curved in substantial conformity with the curvature of the presser foot.

9. A skiving machine comprisin a tubular skiving knife, a presser foot aving a portion which extends in the direction of curvature of the Working face of the presser foot and is adapted to yieldingly engage With the work and cause all portions of the latter throughout its Width to be gripped by the feed r011.

EUGENE F. DAVENPORT. 

